Guest poster Eti Berland argues for Caldecott recognition for three very different 2022 graphic novels.
Every year there is a collection of graphic novels/comics that are worthy of consideration for the Caldecott award. As sequential art, these picture books are innovative and individually distinct, even while being wildly different from one another. (For more, see: https://www.hbook.com/story/defense-graphic-novels.) I appreciate being invited to share my thoughts about some of the notable graphic novels published this year — and I hope the Real Committee is considering them.
Based on her family’s experiences living in Cuba and immigrating to the United States, Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos is a mostly wordless graphic novel, telling the story of Marisol’s journey from Cuba to New York during Operation Peter Pan in the early 1960s. The digital art has a photographic style to it, which is fitting for a story rooted in history and memory. As a story told primarily through images, Isla to Island reflects and respects the child audience, empathizing with Marisol’s struggles coming to the United States, adjusting to new caregivers and a new school, and learning a new language. The language acquisition is visually reflected in word bubbles with jagged squiggles that often surround and overwhelm Marisol. A full-page image of Marisol at her desk with her eyes closed, surrounded by a cacophony of letters, effectively shows her isolation, followed by a double-page spread where she is all alone in her classroom. Castellanos deftly uses a thoughtful limited color palette technique. She begins the story with the vibrant colors of Marisol’s Cuban homeland, showing her joyfully experiencing the natural world with her family, then transforms, reverse-Wizard of Oz-style, to stark black and white when she immigrates to New York and is compelled to adjust to an entirely new life. The limited use of red stands out dramatically in the narrative. It is through discovering books in her school library that color seeps back into the pages fully, as Marisol finds her way into the world of words and the natural wonders in her new home. The sparing use of color makes it stand out to demonstrate Marisol’s adjustment process, visually expressing the theme of resilience in the face of change.
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris is a weird gem of a book, adapted from their series of live cartoon videos. (Does that make the book not an original work? That’s for the committee to decide, or perhaps the committee’s priority chair...) We are taken on an outlandish adventure to the moon, which is in peril from rats literally eating it, a problem that can only be solved by a heroic astronaut cat, the Queen of the Moon, and Loz 4000, a toenail-clipping robot, searching for their purpose. We often ask, “How well does a book do what it is trying to do?” when evaluating picture books for their style, theme, and artistic technique used. The colorful cartoonish drawing style using textured colored pencils matches the humorous and zany adventure across the biodiverse geography of the moon. The characters are uncanny, larger than life, and vibrant, as we’d expect from an epic science-fiction adventure, helmed by a cat. The humor is magnified by the art using visual gags, dramatic page-turns, and plot twists. Can humor such as this be honored by the committee? It’s irreverent and whimsical and strange and delightful. Respect for children's understandings, abilities, and appreciations infuses every page of The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, recognizing how they will embrace this otherworldly journey and the friends they meet along the way.
The Aquanaut by Dan Santat is an ambitious graphic novel with stunning artwork that compels readers to stop and savor each panel. This fish-out-of-water story draws readers into an immersive, imaginative world to explore the importance of family, the process of grief, and the legacy of discovery. Five years after Sophia’s marine biologist father dies at sea, a quartet of sea creatures operating a diving suit makes their way into Sophia’s life to uncover the secrets of the underwater theme park Aqualand. I especially appreciate the character design of the sea creatures who make up the Aquanaut, each with a distinct personality, facial expressions, and journey. The ecological message about caring for our oceans (and resisting the profiteers at Aqualand) is expressed beautifully in the stunning oceanic art. Santat cleverly uses perspective within the setting, especially when it comes to the scale of the creatures, from tiny Sodapop to the giant squid and orca. Santat knows when to accelerate the plot with whirlwind motion — and when to pause for moments of connection and contemplation. Blending humor and hijinks and heartbreak, Santat’s art shows the endless possibilities of, ahem, diving into the unknown.
Which comics/graphic novels are you hoping the Real Committee will consider this year?
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